I See You
by Starian NightZz
Summary: Set in PoM Universe. He's the only one who can see her even if the whole world doesn't. He is like the light to her shadow like how she had once been for him. "I see you." Three simple words, but it conveyed lots to Kuroko Tamaki. Takao/Fem!Kuroko
1. I Don't Know You

_Summary:_

_Set in PoM Universe. He's the only one who can see her even if the whole world doesn't. He is like the light to her shadow like how she had once been for him. "I see you." Three simple words, but it conveyed lots to Kuroko Tamaki. Takao/Fem!Kuroko_

I _really_ need to stop creating story after story when I still got a bunch of stories on my account waiting to be updated! I already had this idea in mind a few months back when I was writing a certain chapter in _Princess of Miracles._ Readers of that particular story should know which chapter I'm referring to.

Also, while yes, this is set in the _Princess of Miracles' _universe, and this means the usual: Akashi is Tamaki's cousin; Tamaki's parents passed away when she was in middle school, etc; the Tamaki in this story will be portrayed a little differently as compared to some of my other stories.

I've read the manga all the way to the latest chapter, and honestly, I'm a little pissed off with the Teiko team, especially Murasakibara, and how they have treated poor Ogiwara and Meiko.

As you might be able to tell by now, Tamaki _and_ Akashi will be pissed with them in this story for what they've done. Wearing the captain and vice-captain hats doesn't mean that they automatically have magical powers and the entire team will listen to them with no questions. My Akashi in this story is the nice Akashi—which means no homicidal tendencies.

**Pairings:** Takao/Tamaki. One sided Aomine/Tamaki

**Warnings:** AU Universe. OOC. Gender swap. Nice Akashi. Semi dark Tamaki. Overprotective Generation of Miracles. Some character bashing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kuroko no Basuke and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter One: I Don't Know You**

"_I don't know you anymore." - Kuroko Tamaki_

**XXXXXX**

The rain poured down heavily, drenching an already thoroughly soaked Kuroko Tamaki.

But the teal haired girl didn't care in the least even as the people around her scurried for cover, or even hurrying home to get out of the rain. No one paid her a passing glance at all, and for once, the middle school senior thanked her stars that her presence is extremely low to the point that most people wouldn't even see her, let alone notice her.

She doesn't even want to talk to anyone right now.

How could things have gotten _so _wrong? Why had she never seen it coming? Even her cousin, for all his excellent hindsight and all had never seen it coming either.

Just that morning, both Tamaki and Akashi Seijuro have been so excited to face their childhood friend on the basketball court for the final championship game of the season to fulfil the promise that the three of them have made as kids before Ogiwara Shigehiro had moved away to Kyoto.

Meiko Middle School, while being an excellent school, seemed to have some extreme bad luck for the matchups during their first and second years of middle school that they've ended up getting kicked out of the tournament during the preliminary rounds. It is only that year when Meiko had managed to reach the finals to meet the Emperor, Teiko Middle School – the ultimate middle school team that everyone feared to meet in a match.

But that match…

It almost makes Tamaki's stomach churn.

Both Tamaki and Akashi haven't been playing in the finals thanks to Tamaki suffering a head injury during the semi-finals – thanks to one of the twins from Kamata West Middle School. Tamaki was laid up in the infirmary thanks to being taken out of the game, and Akashi had insisted on sitting with his cousin, and wouldn't take no for an answer, and thus, this results in Coach Kashitori Kenta putting one of the second year reserves in the finals to take Akashi's place.

That had been one disastrous match.

And honestly, Tamaki doesn't even know if Shige-kun wants anything to do with them anymore. She had seen his eyes when both Tamaki and Akashi have gone to the court just as the match concluded, and the usually bubbly and cheerful boy looked almost _terrified_ of _them._

The storm had broke just two hours earlier during the after match briefing in the locker room of Teiko Middle School.

That had to be the worst fight that the regulars of Teiko Middle School ever had. Tamaki thought for a moment that fists will be swinging at any minute now.

And for the first time in her life, Tamaki felt anger. Real anger at the people who had once been her friends. She had tolerated the team for 'playing' with their opponents for nearly an entire year ever since their abilities have blossomed. But she will never forgive them for _destroying_ Meiko the way that they did, and the way that they have utterly humiliated and crushed her childhood friend.

Her cousin was furious too, and though he barely said anything regarding his feelings on this matter, Tamaki knew that he is beyond furious with them.

The saying that 'power corrupts' definitely had some truth to it.

Tamaki absently placed one foot on the road before a hand yanked her back by the back of her uniform even as a car zoomed past, thus resulting in Tamaki falling hard onto the rain-soaked pavement on her back, with a larger body falling atop her.

Surprised blue eyes met a pair of silvery-blue eyes.

"Do you have a death wish?" Takao Kazunari snapped.

Honestly, Takao has no idea why he's even doing this, and why he is even speaking to a member of the team that had destroyed his entire team that resulted in all the basketball regulars of Seika Middle School quitting basketball as a whole.

Even though he had supposedly 'quit basketball', Takao still found his feet taking him to the Tokyo gymnasium where the semi-finals and finals of the championship match will be taking place that day. And as luck would have it, he had arrived just in time to watch Meiko Middle School get utterly humiliated by Teiko Middle School.

It had even been worse than when _his_ team had faced Teiko during the quarterfinals. And if the murmurings of the crowd had been of any indication, they were angry with Teiko as well. The Generation of Miracles had taken a sport like basketball that is special to several of them and had ruined the game for the rest of them.

And as luck would have it, Takao happened to be standing within hearing distance when the captain and vice-captain of the Teiko team have entered the court – both not playing during the finals. It is obvious on the looks of their faces that they weren't expecting for their team to do something that…_underhanded_ during the match.

And Takao can't help but feel for them.

He remembered what his own captain had told him during half time of his own match when his entire team had overheard the Teiko vice-captain giving _her_ team a piece of her mind for how they have 'toyed' with his team.

In Takao's captain's words: "I've played against Kuroko Tamaki and Akashi Seijuro once during my freshman year of middle school. They aren't players like that. They would never disrespect an opponent, no matter who they are. It isn't in their nature. Teiko used to have a pretty bad reputation for sports. But when they became the captain and vice-captain, they started cleaning Teiko until it became what they are today. Even still, wearing the captain and vice-captain hats doesn't mean that they automatically have magical powers, and are able to control what their team actually does in a match."

It is for this reason alone that when Takao had seen the obviously upset teal haired girl in the streets of Tokyo, looking as if she is half gone somewhere, he had felt worried and decided to follow her in case she decided to do something stupid.

The eyes of Kuroko Tamaki was almost dazed, and looked as if she is about to cry even as she stared up at Takao who is almost straddling her in the middle of the streets.

"Hey, if you want to make out, do it in private." A young man who seems to be in college called out to the both of them as he walked past, looking really amused.

A young lady who is obviously his girlfriend clung onto his arm as they both shared a black umbrella, shaking her head in amusement at the two middle school students on the ground. "Kids these days…" she muttered.

Blushing, Takao got up from where he is currently straddling Kuroko Tamaki until he is in a sitting position, giving the smaller and younger girl a hand so that she is sitting upright as well. "Sorry," he coughed, ignoring the rain coming down hard on his head. "Do you want to come with me to my house? You're totally soaked through." He offered.

"No thanks." Tamaki muttered, not meeting his eyes. The teal haired girl had recognised him immediately. How could she not when she is the team's strategist and is in charge of thinking up of plans and strategies to use against their opponents?

"Wait." Takao interrupted as Tamaki looked ready to walk away to who knows where. He had a firm grip on her left wrist, but not enough to hurt her. "I insist. I can't let you go home like this. My house is nearby. Come with me."

* * *

"These should fit." Takao's younger sister who happens to be in her first year of middle school that year chirped as she approached her brother and the teal haired girl who are both rubbing their hair and bodies dry.

Or rather, Takao had long towelled his hair as dry as he could, and is currently towelling the hair of their teal haired guest who doesn't seem to be in a proper state of mind to do anything for herself.

"Thank you, Kazuha." Takao grinned at his younger sister as he took the bundle of clothes that his sister had dug out of her closet for their guest who seemed to be about the same size as Kazuha. And considering the fact that Kazuha is at least two years their junior, it is almost sad.

Not for nothing however, is Takao Kazuha the younger sister of one Takao Kazunari. She had been surprised in the beginning when her big brother brought home a girl for the first time, but it is a girl with such dead looking eyes that it almost reminds Kazuha of a corpse, and it reminded her of the time when her brother had first walked through their door nearly a month ago with similar eyes after a basketball match.

Kazuha eyed their guest up and down before deciding to take things into her own hands. "Come with me," she said, tugging the teal haired girl by the wrist gently, taking the bundle of clothes from her brother. The slight surprised look that appeared in the eyes of the other girl made Kazuha relieved—at least she isn't totally out of it. "Onii-chan, hurry up and take a shower before you catch a cold."

"I got it." Takao said, annoyed.

Thirty minutes later, Takao stepped out of the bath, feeling refreshed and warmed up after his shower. He then stepped into the sitting room only to see Kuroko Tamaki huddled in a corner of his couch, staring at the phone in her hand lifelessly.

It honestly…scared Takao a little to see her like this. From what he remembered and knew of Kuroko Tamaki, she is a headstrong and stubborn girl. She has to be in order to be the vice-captain of a team like Teiko. But it looks like what had happened during the match earlier is her breaking point.

"Onii-chan, can you help me out here?" His sister called from the kitchen.

Takao took one look at their guest before hurrying to the kitchen where his sister seems to be preparing two cups of warm tea for himself and their guest.

"This should warm you right up." Kazuha told Takao even as he drank the tea from one cup, and took the other cup in his other hand. "Onii-chan, what happened?" She asked worriedly, eyes flickering towards the kitchen doorway. "She has the same eyes that you had just a month ago."

Takao winced. Was he really that bad?

"I'll take care of it." Takao promised before leaving the kitchen and entering his living room once more. He placed his own mug onto the coffee table in front of the couch, and turned towards the teal haired girl. "Drink this." He offered the mug in his hand to her. "It'll warm you up."

After what seemed like a long while, Kuroko Tamaki turned to look at Takao, and he almost winced when he saw the dead look in her eyes. He remembered those same blue eyes being full of life when his school had faced Teiko not just a month before.

"Thank you," she said so softly that Takao almost missed it, placing her phone in the space between Takao and herself and taking the mug with almost shaking hands. Even as she took a sip from the mug, her phone vibrated, and both teens looked down at the same time at the phone only to see the name 'Akashi Seijuro' flashing on the screen.

"Not going to pick up?" Takao looked at Tamaki enquiringly.

Tamaki shook her head, and Takao was a little relieved to see that she seemed to be feeling better. "…I don't feel like talking to anyone now," she confessed.

"Well, you're talking to me." Takao teased, trying to cheer her up, and he cheered inwardly when he saw her smile for the first time that day. A very small miniscule smile, but still a smile nonetheless. "Is there anyone that you want me to call? Your parents? Or siblings?"

The smile slipped right off Tamaki's face, and she turned her eyes onto the mug currently nestled in between her hands. "…I live alone," she said at last. "My parents died last year. And I don't want to bother my aunt and cousin."

Takao felt like a complete jerk at that point in time. Seeing the sad look in the eyes of Kuroko Tamaki, he racked his brains to think of what he should do in order to cheer her up, and an idea then struck him.

He then grabbed a dark blue coat hanging on the back of the couch and placed it around Tamaki's shoulders who looked at him in surprise. "I'm taking you out." Takao explained, pulling on his own black coat. "I'm turning that frown upside down if it's the last thing I do. Come on."

**XXXXXX**

Most teenagers in Japan are bound to step foot in the gaming arcade at least once in their entire lives. Seeing as how majority of the teen population in Japan have their lives revolving around games, you will rarely find a teen who _hasn't_ been to an arcade before.

…And then again, Kuroko Tamaki isn't like most teenagers.

"…Eh?" Takao Kazunari was wondering if he had heard wrongly. "Your first time?"

Tamaki nodded next to Takao as she stared at the arcade in wonder, with the flashing lights above the several game stations. Curiosity and wonder shone in her eyes which is a step up from the almost dead look in her eyes just half-an-hour earlier.

She looks almost like a child who had just stepped foot in a candy store, and Takao can't help but find it adorable.

"Well then, I'll make sure that you get to thoroughly enjoy the wonders of the arcade today." Takao grinned as he then lead Tamaki into the crowded arcade thanks to the rain, and promptly purchased several tokens that are enough for them to enjoy several of the games.

And it is then when Takao realised that Tamaki is really bad at the racing game, is better than _Takao_ at the shooting game where they have to kill dozens of zombies that appear on the screen, and seems to be a master at the dancing game that it made Takao wonder for a moment if this is really her first time at an arcade.

By the time that they've used up all their tokens, much to Takao's dismay, it is closing time, and both teens then realised that they've missed the last bus.

"Sorry. I completely forgot about the time." Takao apologised even as they left the shopping mall. The rain had already stopped, but the streets were still wet, and there were hardly anyone around.

Tamaki shook her head. "It's okay. I had fun today," she said, smiling a small smile at Takao who cheered inwardly at the victory. Well, he did say that he is going to turn that frown upside down.

Takao looked up and down the streets only to realise that it's really quiet and hardly anyone was around. "Where do you live?" he asked Tamaki. "I'll walk you home. It'll give me some peace of mind to see you safely back home when I've made you miss the last bus."

"This way. It's about a twenty minute walk," said Tamaki, pointing down the street down their left side.

"Let's go then," said Takao with a grin even as they walked down the direction that Tamaki had pointed out. He then raised his brow as Tamaki pulled out her iPod and stuffed her ears with the earphones. "Can I listen?" He asked, much to her surprise.

"Yeah." Tamaki nodded before handing one side of the earphones to Takao. "It's my favourite song."

It seems to be some unfamiliar English song that Kuroko Tamaki had been listening to, and even though most of the words are unfamiliar to Takao, the teen felt several emotions resonating within him with the singer's melodious voice.

_Underneath the echoes  
__Buried in the shadows  
__There you were_

_Drawn into your mystery  
__I was just beginning  
__To see your ghost,  
__But you must know_

* * *

"_I don't recall telling you to play like that! Toying with your opponents is one thing, but this… It's like you're the cat, and they're the mouse! This isn't how you treat your opponents!"_

_All of Seika Middle School could hear the argument from their opponent's bench, and as one, they turned towards Teiko Middle School only to see the sole female regular on their team—the vice-captain standing in front of the bench as her teammates quenched their thirst. Only the redhead, the captain who is also standing beside her looked angry. The rest of her teammates don't seem bothered._

"_Seems like things at Teiko aren't all sunshine and daisies either." One of Takao's teammates frowned, staring at Teiko. But it still didn't change the fact that Seika is down nearly eighty points. And if they don't think of something fast, it's going to be a slaughter._

"_She seems really pissed." Takao blinked._

"_But it's true that Teiko's play never used to be like this." The vice-captain chirped in. "It's… How to put it?" He frowned. "More honest?" He offered. "They never used to play around their opponents the way they did now. They always gave everything that they have, even if they are nearly fifty points ahead."_

_Their captain nodded his head solemnly, recalling how Teiko had played two years ago. "I've played against Kuroko Tamaki and Akashi Seijuro once during my freshman year of middle school," he told his team. "They aren't players like that. They would never disrespect an opponent, no matter who they are. It isn't in their nature. Teiko used to have a pretty bad reputation for sports. But when they became the captain and vice-captain, they started cleaning Teiko until it became what they are today. Even still, wearing the captain and vice-captain hats doesn't mean that they automatically have magical powers, and are able to control what their team actually does in a match."_

* * *

Kuroko Tamaki almost felt tears welling up in her eyes once more as she remembered just what had happened to her team and the people whom she had once called friends.

_I'll be here waiting  
__Hoping  
__Praying  
__That this light will guide you home_

_When you're feeling lost  
__I'll leave my love  
__Hidden in the sun,  
__For when the darkness comes_

* * *

_Kuroko Tamaki was nearly boiling over with fury even as she made her way towards the changing room that Teiko Middle School was given, with a meek Momoi Satsuki beside her. The pink haired manager could tell that Tamaki is angry, but she doesn't know just how much, and she is worried for a moment about Tamaki's head injury._

"_What a pathetic game."_

_Both girls could hear the team talking inside the changing room even before they've opened the door, and if at all possible, it only made Tamaki angrier, though she didn't show it on her face._

"_Still giving their all even though it's fruitless." Aomine sneered._

"_Isn't it better if they just give up?" Kise agreed. "How on earth did a team like that even reach the finals anyway?"_

_SLAM!_

_Momoi almost jumped as Tamaki slammed the door opened with such force that it almost sounds as if the door is about to fall off its hinges. The teal haired girl not only startled Momoi. She also scared the boys in the changing room._

"_T-Tamacchi!" Kise beamed at the sight of his instructor. "Is your injury okay—"_

_The blonde felt his words caught in his throat as he caught sight of the look on Tamaki's face, and he gulped. He can't tell it apart from her usual face, but for some reason, he had the feeling that he'd done something __**very**__ wrong._

"_What's wrong, Tamaki?" Midorima asked Tamaki coolly. "Where's Akashi?"_

_Tamaki was silent for several moments. "…We're having a meeting straight after returning to school. Sei is waiting at the gymnasium's entrance," she said curtly._

"_Eh? I don't want to. It's just the usual briefing, isn't it?" Aomine looked bored. "I'm not going."_

"_If Mine-chin isn't going, then I'm not either. I've run out of snacks too." Murasakibara drawled, turning his packet of potato chips upside down, but not a single chip fell out._

_For some reason, it only made Tamaki angrier. __**"All**__ of you," she said sharply, and the entire room of boys turned towards her in surprise. Beside Tamaki, Momoi looked nervous. After all, no one had ever heard Tamaki like this before. She sounds…really angry. "No excuses." She looked from face to face. "Sei and myself want every single one of you to be there. We need to talk. Big time. Whoever that isn't there can be considered taken off the regulars effective immediately, with a permanent mark on your school record."_

_There was deadly silence in the room. _

_Even when Aomine had started skipping practice, neither the coach nor the captain had taken Aomine off the regulars. At that time, the regulars knew that it's because Tamaki had spoken up for her partner, and the coach and captain have both hoped that Aomine would return to his old self soon._

"_You can't do that." Aomine scoffed, not believing Tamaki in the slightest. He then almost flinched when Tamaki almost glared at him. He had never seen his partner like this before. Did the match with Kamata West make her angrier than expected?_

"_Try me." Tamaki almost growled. "All of you. I want all of you there. Be prepared to face the consequences if you don't turn up."_

* * *

Tamaki clenched her hands into fists by her sides even as she walked down the streets silently with Takao, with the latter lost in his own thoughts too.

Why had she never realised this sooner? Why did she never see this coming?

The conversation with her…team earlier that day kept replaying over and over again in her mind.

_Now the door is open,  
__The world I knew is broken  
__With no return_

_Now my heart is not scared,  
__Just knowing that you're out there  
__Watching me  
__So believe_

* * *

_The storm broke in the locker room of Teiko Middle School the moment that both Tamaki and Akashi have walked in, and have locked the door behind them._

_All the regulars were there. Even Momoi was present, though she was standing in a corner, staring at the team with a sad look. She had an inkling what is going to happen. It is a long time coming after all. She knew. The manager knew that both Akashi and Tamaki have been bottling all their feelings up for a long time without saying anything._

_For nearly an __**entire **__**year**__ in fact._

_They __**couldn't**__ say anything because of school politics. If they objected to how their team brings victory to their school, they might very well find themselves replaced, and the next captain and vice-captain of the team might just bring the team down a darker path. But it looks like the match with Meiko Middle is their breaking point._

_Of the entire team, Momoi is probably the only one that knew that Akashi and Tamaki's childhood friend is playing on Meiko's team. Tamaki had been unusually happy that morning during the usual morning briefing session with Akashi and their coach. She had told Momoi before Akashi and Coach Kashitori's arrivals that they might get to face Meiko during the finals, and that she hoped to face Shige-kun during that match. Akashi had never said anything, but Momoi knew that he is eagerly hoping for that match too._

_But then Tamaki got injured during the semi-finals game against Kamata West, and might have a concussion. And thus, Akashi had insisted on sitting with his cousin in the infirmary and simply wouldn't take no for an answer._

_One of the second year reserves who would no doubt be a regular next year had then taken Akashi's place on the court, but it is obvious that Teiko could have played with four players with no problem since the reserve is useless at best on the court, never once touching the ball._

"_What was that about?" Akashi was angry for the first time ever since he had taken up the captaincy of the Teiko Basketball Club. "I don't recall either me or the coach telling you to play like that!" He glared at his team. "I didn't tell you to humiliate Meiko to this extent! I've kept quiet when you lot kept…playing with your opponents throughout the duration of the tournament, but what you've done to Meiko… This is going way overboard!"_

"_We won anyway." Aomine sounded very bored. "What does it matter?"_

_Of all the things that Tamaki is expecting, she definitely wasn't expecting for this to come out of Aomine's mouth._

"…_What did you just say?" Tamaki said in a low voice that made Momoi nervous. If this is Tamaki starting to get angry, then she will never want to see Tamaki getting pissed._

_And clearly, it is either Aomine is too stupid to see that Tamaki is slowly getting __**really**__ angry, or he had plain ignored it._

"_We won the match. We won the third championship in a row." Aomine said uncaringly. "Who cares how we did it? If that is all that you've came to say, can we go now?" He yawned._

_BANG!_

_Everyone in the room jumped as Tamaki slammed her left fist against the metallic doors of the lockers near her. She had a look of dark fury on her face, and the entire team felt chills run down their spines immediately. For a moment, even Akashi was afraid of his cousin, and the expression of dark fury on her face._

"_T-Tamaki-chan! Y-Your hand!" Momoi squeaked, eyes wide at the side of Tamaki's left fist against the metallic doors of the lockers. There was even a slight indentation in it._

_After all, Tamaki had suffered from a permanent injury in that same limb nearly a year ago when Teiko had faced Hanamiya Makoto during the Winter Cup finals. Her left wrist had never been exactly strong since then._

"_I'm all right." Tamaki almost hissed, ignoring the slight throbbing pain in her left wrist. "Did I really just hear you say that you won, so you don't care what happens to our opponents? That you don't care how you won?" Tamaki's eyes were like cold pieces of ice even as she glared at a flinching Aomine who suddenly realised that he'd just fucked up big time, and Tamaki is __**really**__ furious._

"_What's wrong, Tamacchi?" Kise was confused, not knowing why both the captain and vice-captain were so angry. "We won, right? Everything's fine."_

"_Are you really that blind?" Akashi tried hard to control his temper. "Have you seen the looks on the faces of your opponents after the match was concluded, and you lot revealed that you're simply playing with them? You __**destroyed**__ their spirits! I won't be surprised if they quit basketball after this!"_

"_So what?" Murasakibara was bored. "They're weak. It's better if they don't even play." He scoffed._

"_What…did you just say?" Akashi was furious, but he was also horrified. What had happened to his friends? Who…are the monsters in front of him now? Who are the monsters who don't care who they hurt, all in the name of victory?_

_BANG!_

_The team jumped again as Tamaki slammed her left fist against the metallic doors of the lockers once more. The entire locker room was silent for several moments with no one saying anything, even as every single person in the room stared at Tamaki with wide eyes._

_Tamaki had never gotten angry before. She had a type of control over her emotions that is unusual for a fifteen year old. She had always been calm. Thus, this is the first time that the team had truly seen her angry, and frankly, it kind of scares them._

"…_Who are you?" Tamaki said at last. She sounded sad, furious and horrified all at once. She looked from face to face, and Momoi was almost startled to see that Tamaki looks as if she's about to cry. But the teal haired girl stubbornly held her tears in. "Who are you?"_

"_Did you have amnesia or something?" Kise looked horrified that the injury that Tamaki had suffered from the match with Kamata West might have just given her amnesia. "Midorimacchi—"_

"…_I don't know you anymore." Tamaki said, ignoring Kise's antics. __**"Any**__ of you." The entire team looked surprised and shocked. Kise looked as if someone had just clobbered him on the head whilst Murasakibara had stopped munching on his snacks, looking faintly surprised. "You're no different from the seniors that we've faced back in freshman year when we're creating a new varsity team."_

"_What are you saying, Tamaki? How can you compare us to—"_

"_Do you know what the other schools and teams are calling us now, especially after that last championship game against Meiko?" Tamaki ignored Aomine and continued. __**"Monsters.**__ And it hurts me to admit it, but they're right. I don't know any of you anymore." Tamaki looks almost terrified for a moment, almost reflecting the same expression that Shige-kun had on his face several hours earlier, along with all of Meiko. "I don't know you anymore. __**Who are you?**__ You're not them. You're definitely not the friends and teammates whom I knew for three years."_

"_Instead of us who had changed, isn't it __**you**__ who had changed, Tamaki?" Aomine said cruelly. "I don't recall you being this weak before."_

_Akashi glared at Aomine as his cousin looked as if she's about to cry. "…What did you just say, Daiki?" Akashi almost hissed._

"_You said that you're not like the seniors whom we have faced in freshman year." Tamaki refused to let Aomine's cruel words get to her, cutting Akashi off. "Then tell me this then. Just how different are you from the seniors back then? I admit that I've probably played a part in traumatising our opponents too, but what you did… You went too far. How different is it from harming our opponents physically when we did no better by traumatising them so much in a sport that they love that they end up hating it as much as we do?" Tamaki told them harshly. Only Kise looked bothered by those words, whilst the others looked bored. Midorima seems slightly affected by those words as well, and Akashi had a slight look of guilt on his face before it disappeared once more. "You're not them." Tamaki shook her head. "You're not them." She took one step backwards. "…I don't know any of you anymore." She admitted. "…Who are you?"_

* * *

"Here's my stop," said Tamaki, standing outside a small modest one room apartment with the name plaque 'Kuroko' fixated on the wall just beside the door. "I'll like to invite you in for tea, but it's getting late, so…"

"I understand." Takao nodded with a grin. "For what it's worth, I had fun today. We should meet up again sometime."

Tamaki nodded. "I'll like that," she said, handing her phone over when Takao asked for it, and the black haired teen typed in his number before asking for Tamaki's. "I'll return your sister her clothes once I've washed it." She promised, and Takao laughed.

"Kazuha had so many clothes that I really doubt that she will miss them." Takao grinned. "It's okay. Just keep it. It looks better on you, compared to Kazuha." Never mind the fact that Kazuha will probably strangle Takao for just saying that. "But you really do look better now, as compared to earlier." Takao grinned even as Tamaki gave a small smile. "Let's meet again sometime!" He waved to Tamaki as he walked down the street to go home.

Tamaki waved at Takao until he is in sight no longer, and she sighed, remembering what had happened in the locker room of Teiko after the championship match with Meiko.

_I'll be here waiting  
__Hoping  
__Praying  
__That this light will guide you home_

_When you're feeling lost  
__I'll leave my love  
__Hidden in the sun,  
__For when the darkness comes  
__For when the darkness comes_

* * *

"_Tamacchi…" Kise reached out towards Tamaki, but he flinched when Tamaki glared at him._

"_Don't even come near me!" Tamaki took one step backwards, and Akashi was quick to shield her from the rest of their…former teammates and friends. "I never want to see any of you again!" _

_The entire team almost felt their hearts sinking down to the bottom of their shoes at that, and they stared at Tamaki in shock and horror. Tamaki isn't serious, is she? She's just blowing off steam. That's it. She'll be all right the next day. _

_They'll apologise, and that will be it. She'll forgive them, just like every single time when they did something wrong in her book. Like how Murasakibara had always made her angry whenever he bullied a lower string member into quitting the club._

"_If Shige-kun never recovers from this and never want to see Sei and me again, then I never want to see any of you again!" Tamaki could feel the tears pooling around her eyes, and she quickly blinked them away so that none of the team could see her moment of weakness. "I'll never forgive you for what you did. I'm as much to blame for the team…for Teiko having turned out this way, but not even I will stoop as low as this!" Tamaki took another step backwards. "Once we enter high school, if we ever meet on the court again, I'll tear you apart. I'll give you a taste of your own medicine!"_

"_You can't beat me. The only one who can beat me is me alone." Aomine arrogantly stated, trying to push his own feelings of fear and unease aside. It's not his fault! Their opponents are just…too weak, that's all. It's their fault for being this weak, and not being able to give him a good game._

"_Yeah? Try me." This is the first time that the team had seen Tamaki so angry before. And frankly, it scares them. "I'm not your vice-captain for nothing. Just because my left hand is a little weaker than it was before thanks to the incident from last year doesn't mean that I can't kick your ass in basketball. I've never shown you what I'm fully capable of after all." Tamaki's eyes are like cold pieces of ice. "You just don't know what I'm capable of. The Mirage Player of the Generation of Miracles isn't that easy to be taken down! I'll destroy you on the court, the same way that you did to so many of our past opponents. The same way that you treat Meiko and Shige-kun." Tamaki's eyes were one of cold fury. "And that…is a promise."_

* * *

_A/N: Akashi and Tamaki are probably a little out of character in this story. But please remember that the Akashi in this story is the nice Akashi. Tamaki will be a little dark in this story as she's pissed with nearly the entire team save for Akashi. Not that they aren't at fault too for how Teiko had turned out. Anyway, Tamaki's tactical abilities will be coming out more in this story as compared to Princess of Miracles. And naturally, the games against her former teammates will go differently._

_As a side note, I'm literally __**clean**__ out of ideas for Silent Light! Is there anyone who wishes to adopt it?_

_Anyway, I hope that you've enjoyed this story, and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!_


	2. I've Made Up My Mind

**Pairings:** Takao/Tamaki. One sided Aomine/Tamaki

**Warnings:** AU Universe. OOC. Gender swap. Nice Akashi. Semi dark Tamaki. Overprotective Generation of Miracles. Some character bashing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kuroko no Basuke and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Two: I've Made Up My Mind**

"_The vice-captain had always been the support. Both for the team __**and**__ the captain. That had always been the role of the vice-captain." - Kuroko Tamaki_

**XXXXXX**

The atmosphere in the Teiko Basketball Club until the seniors graduate is almost stifling for the next month.

Ever since the beginning of the new school year, the atmosphere in the gym whenever more than one of the regulars were present (excluding the captain and vice-captain) is tense at best, and none of the non-regulars even have the guts to complain about their insane training menu when it looks as if just saying the wrong thing could make the tension snap.

No one had said anything, but they had a feeling that if the tension snap, then something terrible might just happen. The atmosphere surrounding the regulars after the end of the championship league is almost stifling and unbearable.

All the non-regulars knew that the captain and vice-captain were furious about how the team had treated Meiko when they have sat out of the last match due to the vice-captain's head injury against Kamata West during the semi-finals. There were even rumours that the regulars had a huge argument that almost ended up in a fist fight during the after match briefing.

Both the captain and vice-captain have been treating the rest of the regulars like they don't even exist since then. The only one whom they would even talk to is just Midorima, and occasionally, the first string's manager. And even so, it is a rare occurrence.

The non-regulars were all worried and concerned seeing the cold fury reflected in the eyes of their captain and vice-captain when just a few short months ago, their vice-captain was the best of friends with Aomine, Kise and even Momoi. Now, they would be lucky to even see the teal haired girl talk to the two boys.

The only person whom she would even speak to apart from the captain, Midorima (again, that is a rare occurrence) and their manager is only the coach and some of the juniors who would be taking the place of the regulars once they graduate.

And because of the handover process when the regulars have to pick their successors, all of them must be present in the gym for the next month as the juniors practice. But no one had missed the fact that the captain and vice-captain refused to so much as look at the other regulars, and if they indeed do have to speak to them, they will get a junior to pass a message to the regular even if said regular is standing next to them.

Everyone in the club knew that the captain and vice-captain were beyond furious about what had happened during the championship league. Even some of the other club members were uncomfortable with what had transpired during that match and had resigned from the club as a whole. The vice-captain didn't ask them for their reasons like how she usually did whenever a club member wishes to resign from the club. Some of the first stringers who were trained by the vice-captain had even felt that if it hadn't been so close to the end of the school year, and if the club doesn't need her as much as it did, the vice-captain would have walked out of the basketball club right after the end of the championship league.

"…And that's all that you need to know, I think." Kuroko Tamaki told the new vice-captain for the next year whom she had been grooming as the team's tactician and vice-captain for nearly a year now.

The second year looks as if his head is spinning as he tried hard to process what his senior had been telling him for the past hour. He never knew that the vice-captain's job involved so much responsibility.

The vice-captain mainly handles the administrative stuff of the club – the paperwork and even the resignations and registrations of new members. Both the captain and vice-captain each have a set of the keys for the three gyms and even their clubroom, and it is usually the vice-captain's duty to open it each morning for the morning practice.

That is the easy part of the job.

As the next vice-captain had also been groomed to be the team's tactician, he had various tactics and strategies all but drilled into his head for the past year, and it also helps that he had been trained to be the new Point Guard of the team. The next captain however, will be holding the position of Small Forward.

"Huh…" Yamada Kotaro looks as if he's about to pass out with the vast amount of information being processed in his head for the past hour, even about what Kuroko-sempai had taught him about how to research opponents.

Usually, researching teams and opponents is the job of the team managers, but as the club's current managers are all third years, and thus, graduating this year, they will have to recruit new ones for the next year, and Teiko will be in a bit of a pinch if they can't get any decent managers who doesn't know how to gather information and research rival teams. Hence why Tamaki had trained her successor to gather information and research rival teams.

"Well, you'll do fine. Just do what you've been doing all along, and you'll be all right." Tamaki told Yamada with a small smile, seeing that the small second year looks about to pass out with the vast amount of information that he is currently processing. "…Yamada-kun?" The second year looked at Tamaki curiously. "…I know that you've long noticed that the team is falling to pieces."

Yamada looked sad at that.

He had tried to hand in his resignation at the beginning of the school year when he had noticed that the seniors whom he had idolised ever since he was a freshman had started disrespecting the sport. All but a few of them.

And when he had told Tamaki his reasons for wanting to leave, the vice-captain had surprisingly asked him to stay, and had even told him that if that is indeed his real reason for wanting to leave, then all the more she can't let him go.

Because once she and the regulars graduate, someone is going to need to step up and cleanse the club. Someone who had seen the discord sowing in the club, and know just what to do to repair it. Someone who can support the coach and the captain. Someone who won't let the team fall to pieces.

It is from that point onwards when Kuroko Tamaki had started grooming Yamada Kotaro to be the next vice-captain and tactician of the team. Likewise, her cousin had also picked a potential successor to the captain position who thankfully had his head screwed on properly, and is also one of the few that Tamaki refused to let leave the club. And it also helps matters that the next captain is also Yamada's best friend.

Tamaki looked at Yamada sadly. "It is for this reason why I've nominated you as vice-captain. If there is anyone who can revive Teiko, it is you. I can't do anything anymore," she admitted. "With the presence of the Generation of Miracles, it only serves to deepen the animosity and the rift in the club. But once we're gone… You might just have a chance to cleanse the club. To bring it back to what it once had been. I realise that I'm leaving a large mess for you to clean up—like how it had once been for us when we're freshmen. But… I can't ask anyone else to do this. Clean up the club. Clean up Teiko. Don't make the same mistake that we did. Make the team realise once more just why they've started playing basketball. Make them remember their love for the game. Make them realise that basketball is fun for them, and that victory isn't everything that matters. That had been Teiko's Basketball until the numerous victories had turned their head. Be for Nishi-kun what I had been for the captain. The vice-captain had always been the support. Both for the team _and_ the captain. That had always been the role of the vice-captain. This…will be the last thing that I'll ask you to do for me as members of the same basketball club."

Yamada Kotaro was silent. He knew what his senior was asking him to do, and he really wonder if he is even up to the task.

But still, she is instilling her trust in him, and he wants to be able to live up to her expectations.

"…Hai, Vice-Cap."

**XXXXXX**

"…You look as if your dog had died." Kiyoshi Teppei pointed out the moment that Kuroko Tamaki had stepped into his hospital room.

"…Is that so?" was all that Tamaki said even as she placed her bag on the ground and sat down in the visitor chair by Kiyoshi's bedside.

Kiyoshi said nothing for several moments as he watched the small girl silently. They have became acquainted about six months ago when Kuroko Tamaki had assisted him to head to his own room when his knee injury had acted up again whilst he was walking about in the hospital corridors, and they have then became friends. The rest of his team, bless their hearts, have warmed up to the girl immediately after that, and when they found out that the girl is as basketball crazy as them, well…

It is only in recent months when Tamaki looks sadder and sadder and looks as if she wants to cry at any moment. And it wasn't until Riko had hesitantly told him what had been going on with Teiko's basketball matches of late that Kiyoshi understood. Then the championship league match nearly a month ago…

That had been the straw that had hit the camel's back.

No one had seen Tamaki so furious before when she came to visit Kiyoshi the day after the match, and Koganei had innocently enquired about the championship league. It somehow reminds Kiyoshi of a volcano erupting, as Tamaki is usually extremely calm-headed and polite.

Kiyoshi had thought that Tamaki is ready to just walk away from basketball forever, despite her words to her former teammates. Riko had then taken the upset Tamaki away for a few hours. No one knew what had transpired between the two girls, but when they have returned, Tamaki seems to have felt better, and Riko is nearly beaming in the same way that she usually did whenever she had made plans for another tortu—training session.

Thus, no one can really blame Hyuuga and the rest of the team from eyeing Riko warily. Whenever Riko had _that_ look on her face, _someone_ always suffers.

Kiyoshi still remembered what Riko had told him after the rest of the team had gone home, and Riko had remained in his hospital room to talk to him.

"_I invited her to Seirin to join our team as a player and a training manager cum tactician." Riko told Kiyoshi, much to his surprise. "I've seen some of Teiko's games in the past before they became the monsters that they are now. The strategies and tactics that they used during their first year when they were still finding their feet… That had been her work. Even she admitted it."_

_Kiyoshi nodded. "'Mirage' Kuroko Tamaki of the Generation of Miracles," he noted. "She had been one of the more dangerous members. Her true skills don't really lie in her skills on the court—though like every single one of her former teammates, she __**is**__ feared. Her true skills lie in her mind—she is a master tactician. Her opponents' habits, body language, mind process… She can read every single one of them and think up of a plan to counter them on the spot. That had been the secret behind Teiko's continuous victories for the past three years."_

_Kiyoshi grinned wryly as he recalled his match against Teiko when he was in middle school. Shoei Middle had gotten themselves slaughtered on the court, with Teiko doubling their score easily._

"_I… I'm proud of my skills as a trainer." Riko admitted wryly, smiling faintly even as she looked out of the window at the setting sun. "But when it comes to play tactics and strategies… I'm not so good. If Seirin had someone like her for the next year, we might just have a chance."_

"_She looks as if she is ready to give up basketball though." Kiyoshi pointed out, recalling the disheartened look on Tamaki's face, and just how the other guys had tried their utmost best to cheer her up. "I'm familiar with that feeling."_

"_Yeah." Riko nodded her head. "I won't tell you what she'd told me, but I can tell you that it's bad—what had transpired in Teiko. And if I ever meet any of her old teammates, I'll slap them." Riko looked pissed. "Just because they're good in basketball doesn't mean that they can ruin the game for the rest of us. And I dread to know what had caused Teiko to go so downhill that they end up turning one of their own players so angry that she is ready to go on a rampage against her former…friends when revenge and hatred doesn't even exist in her vocabulary just a few short months ago."_

_Honestly speaking, Kiyoshi is kind of interested to know the same thing too._

"_But when she told me that she doesn't want to hear, touch or even go near a basketball again, well… It just doesn't sit right with me." Riko admitted. "I then told her this: would she rather that her former teammates think of her as a coward and continue destroying the hopes and aspirations of others the way that they did in middle school and she didn't do anything to stop them, or would she rather continue with basketball and get her revenge on them on the court? Those that were trampled on by them and had walked away from basketball entirely… Why don't she take on their hopes and aspirations and carry out revenge for them? That is what I told her." Riko told Kiyoshi. _

"_I don't know what had exactly happened in Teiko for the team to change that much in just less than a year, but I'm not the kind of person that would let that kind of behaviour slide. If no one wants her, then __**we**__ want her. She is the type of person that Seirin wants on our team. She doesn't know how to give up. Until the last buzzer goes off, she will still keep on fighting. That is the kind of person that I want on my team." Riko proclaimed. "I don't know if she will accept our offer or not though. She said that she'd get back to us."_

"…It's the handover of the club duties today." Tamaki said at last. "The third years have officially retired from the club now. The new vice-captain… I think I can at least leave things to him. If it is him, he can bring Teiko back to what it once was before the Generation of Miracles have begun dominating the games." She then looked at Kiyoshi, a hopeful expression on her face. "If the offer is still open, I will like to go to Seirin. I want to start all over again."

**XXXXXX**

The continuous sounds of the ball bouncing against the floor of the court resounded again and again even as Takao Kazunari shoot basket after basket, showing no signs of stopping at all. A wide grin decorated his face even as sweat soaked through his shirt.

It is still there. His love for the game.

Takao panted, hunched over on his knees even as he thought back to his last meeting with Kuroko Tamaki just a week ago when he'd waited for her outside the gates of Teiko Middle School, thus inviting lots of weird looks from the students as he had been dressed in a different uniform.

"_The Generation of Miracles destroyed many people—their hopes and dreams and even their love for the game." Tamaki told him as the two sat on a bench in the nearby park, watching the sunset. "I don't know when it had begun, but their play started changing around the time when our ace started evolving in skills before being followed by the others."_

Takao bounced the ball against the floor of the court.

"_So what are you going to do now?" Takao asked curiously. "Are you going to beat the Generation of Miracles your way?"_

"_That is the plan." Tamaki looked at Takao. "I'm not such a nice person that I will just let what they did slide. I'm going to destroy them on the court." Takao almost shivered as he caught the cold fury visible in blue eyes. He sure doesn't want to be a Generation of Miracles right about now. "Midorima-kun and Sei set aside… I don't even know who the rest of them are anymore."_

_Swish!_

The ball went in once more.

"_I've just been wondering something." Takao said with a frown. "From what you said, things started changing around the second half of your second year when the entire team started evolving in skills. If you're not happy with how they've been acting and behaving, why didn't you say anything?"_

"_I couldn't." Tamaki sighed. "Teiko is a private school. At the time of our second year, we had a new headmaster. He took the motto of the school to an entire different meaning. Teiko's motto had been 'Always Victory'. But before our second year, the headmaster and the teachers have never put much stock into it. But when the new headmaster came, everything changed. No matter what we the students do, we must always win. That's how Teiko had become – almost like a chaotic warzone. And who knows when it had even begun, but that manner of thinking spread to even the clubs, especially the basketball club that had been the most famous and prestigious club in the school. If myself or the captain or even the coach have said anything back then, we would have gotten ourselves replaced, and our replacements might just be worse, and lead the team down an even darker path. That's why we couldn't say anything." Tamaki admitted, and Takao was almost horror struck at this. What kind of school is that? _

"_And talking to them…" Tamaki let out a bitter laugh. "What makes you think I hadn't already tried?" She looked at Takao tiredly. "They don't even listen to me. Not anymore. Not since our second year. The club as a whole started to change when the new headmaster came, and the regulars started to change into the monsters that they are. Probably myself too. I wouldn't know. That's why I didn't try to stop most of the club members from leaving. They were probably terrified and horrified at how the club had turned out and had left. Trust me, Takao-kun. If the club and the coach hadn't needed me as much as they did, I would have left as well."_

Takao frowned as he stared at the hoop staring at him in the face, bouncing the ball absently against the floor of the court.

What had Teiko turned out to be? What kind of school is that? What kind of school had turned a bunch of kids into the monsters that they are now?

For all their awesome skill at basketball, the Generation of Miracles are still kids in middle school for goodness sake! No matter how prestigious the school, a school's first priority should be nurturing their students into good and capable people in society! Not turning them into someone so twisted that they don't even care what they do in order to attain victory!

"_Despite what I'd told them at the end of the championship league match, I was ready to just walk away from basketball forever." Tamaki admitted, and Takao was horror struck. The words 'Tamaki' and 'quitting basketball' together in the same sentence doesn't seem real. "But then someone then told me that if anything, play for the ones who __**had**__ stopped basketball because of __**them."**_

"Ah."

The ball bounced off the rim of the hoop and rolled away, coming to a stop at someone's feet. Takao looked surprised as Kuroko Tamaki picked up the ball, bouncing it against the floor of the court.

She was dressed in the winter school uniform of Teiko Middle School, with a black and silver scarf wound around her neck to keep her warm – one that Takao instantly recognised, as he had been the one to buy that for her for Christmas. Ironically enough, Tamaki had bought a scarf for him as well, only in the colour scheme of light blue and white that ironically reminds Takao of Tamaki herself.

Tamaki smiled at Takao who grinned back at her.

"…Care to have an one-on-one?" Tamaki asked, bouncing the ball at her feet.

* * *

"So this is it then." Takao said nearly an hour later when both teens are sitting on the bench in the basketball park, quenching their thirst. "Come spring, we would both be in high school."

Tamaki nodded. "I'm going to Seirin. If I'm going to beat them, I'm going to do it my way. And beating them whilst being in a relatively new team like Seirin sounds interesting, isn't it? It will trample on their pride at the same time—being taken down by a new team." She had an almost evil look in her eyes.

Takao winced. He can't help feeling sorry for those Generation of Assholes now. Truly, a woman's wrath is to be feared. And for such a quiet person, Kuroko Tamaki is sure vicious when enraged. Probably, part of the reason why she had been so angry is because of her childhood friend.

"Has he spoken to you since? Your childhood friend."

Tamaki shook her head sadly. "I don't even know if he had changed his number or something, but he hasn't been taking my calls or answering my emails."

Takao was silent for a moment, a plan hatching in his head. "…Do you mind if I get his contact from you?" he asked suddenly, much to Tamaki's surprise. "He might answer to an unfamiliar number. And he might listen to me – to someone who had also been destroyed by the Generation of Miracles."

**XXXXXX**

Ogiwara Shigehiro eyed the screen of his phone dully as he read the several messages sent by his childhood friends for the past month.

If truth be told, he knew that it wasn't really their fault. Being the captain and vice-captain doesn't mean that they could control what their team does, and he had heard enough from them to know that Teiko had changed drastically in the last year and the half.

He read the last message from Tamaki sent about a week ago:

_This will be my last message for awhile. I don't know if you can read this, but if you are reading this now, then I'll swear to you: I'll take down the Generation of Miracles. I'm not going to let them get away with it._

Shigehiro was then surprised when a new message arrived to his phone, with it being from an unfamiliar number:

_To: Ogiwara Shigehiro  
__From: Takao Kazunari  
__Subject: Hi there!_

_You don't know me, but I'm a friend of Kuroko Tamaki. And like you, my team had been destroyed by Teiko a few months ago during the quarterfinals of the Nationals. Tamaki never said much about what had happened between you both, but I know enough to put things together. No matter how angry you are at Teiko, and honestly, I don't blame you for hating them, you shouldn't blame Tamaki. It's not her fault._

_I got acquainted with her on the day of the championship league match when she and her cousin got into this really big fight with their team. From what she had told me, they were lucky that fists didn't start swinging. That's just how angry they have been._

_Tamaki was ready to just walk away from basketball forever because of what her team had done to you and Meiko. But someone convinced her not to. She told me that she'll play basketball once more, beating her old teammates on her own terms. If you could ever bring yourself to watch basketball once more, keep an eye and ear out for the Seirin Basketball Team. That is the team that Tamaki is joining for high school._

_And maybe, once you're ready, talk to her once more. I know that she'll be happy._

Shigehiro felt a pang of guilt. He had been so absorbed in his own self-pity and depression that he had never thought about how Tamaki and Seijuro are both feeling. Surely it must be worse for them, seeing as how it had been their _own team._

And just what the hell did Teiko do to them until the Generation of Miracles—the regulars of the Teiko Basketball Club ends up hurting one of their own _this_ badly? For as long as he had known Tamaki and Seijuro, the two are always quiet and calm. Tamaki is the kindest person that he had ever known until he could almost call her a saint. And by the sounds of Tamaki's last message, she is beyond furious with her old team.

Shigehiro knew how strong Tamaki and Seijuro are. The three of them have been old friends after all. They've grown up around basketball. If Seijuro is the monster on the court, then Tamaki is the master of the mind. If their old team did indeed piss them off enough, Shigehiro has no doubts that Tamaki and Seijuro could easily destroy their old team on the court.

And their idea of 'destroying' usually means breaking their spirits.

Shigehiro had heard all about how Tamaki and Seijuro have built the Teiko Basketball Club from scratch ever since they are freshmen last year when Meiko had came to Tokyo for the National tournament, and he had taken the chance to catch up with his old friends.

Tamaki is responsible for planning out the strategies and tactics that the team uses for their matches. She will know what each of her old teammates are capable of. And she is indeed ruthless enough to use that information to her advantage, destroying them until they lose all capability to even have the courage to stand on the court.

Shigehiro would hate to be a member of the Generation of Miracles right about now. They have no idea what they're in for the next year. And if it is Tamaki, she is indeed capable enough to bring a new team like Seirin to the top. After all, she and Seijuro both have done the same with Teiko. Up until about three years ago, Teiko was a no-name school for basketball.

It's just…

'_My god…'_ Shigehiro closed his eyes briefly in frustration and desperation, opening them again to look at the wallpaper of his phone which is that of a photo taken of him, Seijuro and Tamaki just a few short months earlier when they have met again at the opening ceremony of the National tournament. _'Tamaki… Seijuro… What the hell did they do to you?'_

* * *

_A/N: Please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!_


	3. To Believe

**Pairings:** Takao/Tamaki. One sided Aomine/Tamaki

**Warnings:** AU Universe. OOC. Gender swap. Nice Akashi. Semi dark Tamaki. Overprotective Generation of Miracles. Some character bashing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kuroko no Basuke and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

* * *

**Chapter Three: To Believe**

"_But none of that matters at all if you don't help yourselves." - Kuroko Tamaki_

**XXXXXX**

Tamaki met up with Takao again a week after high school had commenced for both of them.

Her first day of high school was rather amusing in a way.

Apparently, Seirin was so excited to have her as an official high school student, and as their training manager slash player that Izuki was on her doorstep bright and early on the first day of school as her 'escort'. And honestly, Tamaki couldn't fault them in this either since she's just as excited as them.

As the basketball team was a rather new team, there weren't many new students that wanted to join the team, and whatever new members that have joined were as quick to drop out after Riko's test on their commitment. The only ones that have remained are three freshmen that seemed to have been friends since their middle school days, and a red haired tall freshman in Tamaki's class that emitted a similar aura as _them._

Tamaki later learned that the redhead's name is Kagami Taiga and he attended middle school in some school that has a mediocre basketball team at best, and hence, he had never even heard of Teiko and _them._ Needless to say, Kagami got all the information about Teiko and the Generation of Miracles from one of the other freshmen who had remained after the weeding out process, and Tamaki then has to spend most of the school week hiding from Kagami Taiga who seemed rather determined to challenge her.

The challenge match between the freshmen and the seniors in the gym after that only seems to reinforce Kagami's determination to challenge Tamaki after he saw a little of what she's capable of.

"Are all your former teammates this annoying, or is Midorima just special?" was the first thing out of Takao's mouth the moment that he'd seen Tamaki. The two have met up for lunch at Maji Burger, and thanks to Takao's eyes, he had seen Tamaki almost instantly even though most people would miss her.

Tamaki managed a small smile as she sipped from her vanilla milkshake. "I take it that your first meeting with him as teammates didn't go well?" she stated more than questioned.

She almost feared for the sanity of all the teams that her former teammates have gone to, particularly for the Rakuzan team. And this time, without Tamaki there to rein her cousin in once he goes a little too far in his 'jokes', she almost feared for her cousin's new teammates.

Takao was speechless for several moments as he sat in the seat opposite Tamaki, staring at her for several moments, trying to decide if the monster on the court is really the same guy who is now on the same team that he is. "Big understatement of the year." Takao said at last. "He had a bear statue with him." He added incredulously.

"The lucky item." Tamaki said instantly, since really, what else could it be?

Takao stared at Tamaki for several moments, speechless. "…The Generation of Miracles are all nuts, save for you," he said at last. "Midorima in particular."

"Say that to his face, I dare you to." Tamaki hid an amused smile, and Takao grinned back. "So how did it go? Midorima-kun's meeting with the rest of the team? And did you make it as a regular?"

"Of course I did!" Takao grinned, making a victory sign with his fingers. "And nearly the entire team kept staring at Midorima the entire time when we were there at the first practice that is really a qualification test of some sort to pick the new regulars."

True, they were all staring as Midorima kept making three pointer after three pointer without even stopping or missing a beat, no matter how far that he stood from the net. _And_ they continued staring at Midorima even as he lugged that heavy looking bear statue with him to the court. They stared again even as the coach announced that Midorima had the privilege to carry those items around with him, as he's Shutoku's ace, and had the privilege to ask for 'three selfish things for the day'.

Takao thought for a moment that the captain, Otsubo Taisuke would explode when he'd heard that. He had even heard Miyaji-sempai complaining to Kimura-sempai that he wonders how on earth Teiko, or rather, Midorima's former captain and vice-captain actually managed to keep him in line. And not just him, but five other egocentric geniuses like him.

And honestly, after his seniors have 'volunteered' Takao to be the one to 'look after Midorima' as he's the only other freshman regular on the team, Takao is wondering the same thing.

Tamaki must have the patience of a saint to be able to put up with Midorima for three years. And not just him, but four other people like him. Tamaki doesn't count, though she is one of the team of geniuses too. And truthfully, Takao had already stopped seeing Tamaki as one of them the night when he had saved Tamaki from nearly getting run over by a car.

Tamaki smiled. "Well, I guess the tournament season this year is going to be interesting," she said. "Especially with both our schools being in the Tokyo region."

"With the Generation of Miracles going to high school this year, of course it will be." Takao grumbled. "I'm surprised that your team hasn't had to entertain reporters or scouts coming to your gym yet."

Unfortunately for Takao, Shutoku already had to suffer from one of the side effects in getting a member of the Generation of Miracles in their team. As if putting up with His Highness Prince Midorima's high and mighty ways and his rather creative insults to your person isn't enough, now they have to endure getting 'visited' by reporters and scouts and spies.

It came to such a point that their school principal has to actually bar everyone that isn't a teacher or a student of their school from entering school premises.

"Well, not many would actually believe that I would choose to enter a new high school like Seirin." Tamaki remarked.

That had probably been the only reason why she's safe from reporters so far. Whatever rumours that have circulated about the vice-captain of the Generation of Miracles attending Seirin had probably been passed off as that—mere rumours. After all, apart from Tamaki, the rest of the Generation of Miracles are rather arrogant, and would never join a team that is way below their standards. And unfortunately for most of them, Seirin falls into that category. And honestly, Takao is also wondering why Tamaki would join a team like Seirin too.

Takao grinned. "I would love to see their faces once the tournament season actually starts," he grinned. "Just so you know, Shutoku wouldn't go easy on Seirin. We don't plan to lose here."

Tamaki smiled. "Right back at you."

* * *

"So what do you want to do now?" Takao asked an hour later as they left Maji Burger, and was walking by the street courts that Tamaki and Takao often frequent during their holidays. "Catch a movie or something?"

"Let's—" Tamaki then stopped whatever she was saying as she turned towards the street courts. Curious, Tamaki followed her line of sight, and saw that a group of three older and bigger boys were picking on three boys that seemed to be fresh out of middle school. "Those three…" She murmured, staring at the three younger boys out of the six.

"You know them?"

"They're in my team," said Tamaki. Her eyes then narrowed as she saw that it's a clear case of bullying here.

Takao sighed, knowing where this is going to lead to now. "Shall we?" he said tiredly.

Between Tamaki and himself, this is going to be a _very_ short confrontation.

**XXXXXX**

"Ow!" Furihata Kouki flinched back as Kuroko Tamaki rubbed some ointment onto the bruises already forming on his arms. Come tomorrow, Furihata is pretty sure that it's going to turn purplish.

It _had_ been a very short match, especially for basketball players of Takao and Tamaki's level. It had barely taken them three minutes before they have sent the older and bigger teens off packing. Following that, Tamaki had then headed to a nearby pharmacy and had gotten some medical supplies and bandages before proceeding to tend to the trio's injuries. Alongside Midorima, Tamaki had often patched up the members of her old team for some injury or the other during practice or even matches.

God knows how they even managed to get themselves into scrapes too.

"Thank you for helping us." Fukuda bowed slightly to Tamaki, a bandage around the lower part of his right arm, and a band-aid on his temple.

"We should report this to the authorities." Takao frowned. "It's not just a simple case of bullying anymore. If we hadn't came by, they would have beaten you up!"

"No! Please don't!" Furihata wailed. He then flushed as everyone turned the bulk of their attention towards him. "I-I mean… We can't afford to have attention brought to Seirin, with it being a new school and all. We don't need it, and the team definitely doesn't need it." He muttered.

Tamaki sighed. "Fine, I won't tell this to anyone. But who are they? They seemed to know the three of you," she said.

There was silence for several moments before Kawahara broke the silence. "…They're our former school seniors at our middle school," he said at last.

Tamaki raised a brow. "The three of you attend Shisekan Middle, don't you?" she enquired, recalling that bit of info in their data.

Shisekan Middle is a middle-tier school, and while a decent team, they simply lacked the firepower to go against some of the top middle school teams, let alone Teiko. Hence, they always got themselves kicked out during the quarterfinals.

"…Yes." Fukuda nodded. "I was in the basketball club during middle school. And so is Furi. Kawahara wasn't in the basketball club back then. He was in the kendo club," he explained. "When we were freshmen, the seniors in charge of the club at that time were pretty violent and mean, even resorting to physical means in order to intimidate the juniors, even though so many of us were obviously much better than them. But the coach at that time favours them."

"You know, I seem to recall reading something about Shisekan Middle being disqualified from the tournaments during my freshman year due to violence." Takao frowned. As Shisekan isn't exactly a famous school, and neither are they exactly a powerful team, it doesn't create much buzz.

"I remember hearing about it too." Tamaki frowned even as she bandaged Furihata's arm carefully.

Satsuki had told her about it during the summer of her freshman year as Shisekan had been in the Tokyo region. No one knows exactly what had happened, only that the entire basketball team was disqualified from the basketball season that year due to some violence issues. And from what Satsuki had told Tamaki, the coach and the seniors of the club were all suspended, with the coach getting fired. It wasn't until her second year when Shisekan began a comeback, but as they aren't exactly an overwhelming strong team, they've never managed to make it past the quarterfinals of the Inter High, let alone the Winter Cup.

"Well, it is actually true." Furihata said awkwardly, not daring to look at anyone in the eye. "Fukuda and I aren't exactly as good as the other freshmen, so we were really picked on quite a lot by the seniors at that time, being sent to wash their jerseys, to buy drinks for them out of our own money, to clean the gym as they leave early, and all that."

There was deadly silence for several moments.

"…If I ever meet those 'seniors' of yours again, I'll punch them in the face." Takao said at last, eye twitching.

"And at that time, there was a second year who transferred in and joined the basketball club." Fukuda added. "He is an extremely powerful player, and he decided that he didn't like how the coach and the seniors at that time were doing things, and thus, put them in their place. The entire club was then suspended for fighting, and it became a rather big issue that was brought to the front by the School Board. Of course, everything came out, and as a result, the coach was fired, with the seniors suspended. The second year then took the chance to reform the basketball club. He became our captain and our coach."

Tamaki was silent as she finished bandaging Furihata's arm. "…It reminds me of Teiko," she said at last, and everyone immediately looked at her in surprise. "Teiko started out the same way too when we were freshmen. We built up the basketball club ourselves after putting the seniors in place. And I wonder…" She sighed. "When did Teiko become a place like that now? When did they forsake themselves?"

Takao was silent. He knew better than anyone else how hurt Tamaki had been when her former friends started changing for the worse, and became the worst kind of monsters that had ever existed.

Fukuda looked at Tamaki before deciding that now is as good a time as ever to ask her. All of the freshmen have been dying to ask Tamaki about Teiko and the Generation of Miracles, and even why such a famous player like her will join a school like Seirin since day one, but their seniors have forbid all questions about Teiko and the Generation of Miracles unless they're asking about them for the purpose of a match.

"Tamaki?" Fukuda said carefully, and Tamaki glanced at him. "Why…is a player like you in a team like Seirin? All the other Generation of Miracles joined well-known teams, didn't they? To that end, why did you play basketball?"

Takao was silent. That had been the same question that he had asked her once. And Tamaki had even told him that this 'Kagami Taiga' who is quickly shaping up to be their team's ace so as to speak, had been so-not-subtly prodding Tamaki for anything that he could get about the Generation of Miracles and what her middle school life had been like.

Tamaki sighed. "I wonder…" she murmured. Meeting the curious eyes of the three other freshmen in her team, she sighed once more. "The seniors and the coach already know this, and Kagami-kun knows a bit too. So I guess it's only fair that I tell you." She looked from face to face. "In the middle school basketball circuit, Teiko's Generation of Miracles are the best. But we didn't start out that way. All of us… We started out as any ordinary player. And like I've said, there were many issues when we were freshmen, and we only took three months to build a new basketball team, with us as the leaders. We took the basketball world by storm that year." She smiled at the memory of it.

Takao snorted. "That's putting it mildly," he said. "Before you Generation of Miracles came into the picture, Teiko was a no-name school for basketball. Imagine this, a team of freshmen beating every single team with ease, thus climbing to the top of every single basketball tournament held that year. The sports magazines were all buzzing that year. After that, going against Teiko only seem to get harder. And from what I know, Teiko hasn't lost a match yet even after you and your old teammates have graduated. They're not as powerful as when the Generation of Miracles were in middle school, but still pretty strong. Whatever training regime that you used during your middle school years, I really have to know."

Tamaki gave a small smile. "Basketball was fun for us at first," she said. "It was fun. Going to practice every single day, and stopping by the convenience store for popsicles after that. But who knows when it had even begun, but the regulars started growing arrogant with their own fearful power and started changing. What had once been a good team is now nothing more than a group of individuals more concerned with scoring points than having a good match. By the time I was in my third year, I can honestly say that no one on the team loves basketball anymore. But the championship league game last year was the last straw. I honestly don't know who they are anymore. That was the worst fight that the captain and myself have ever gotten into with them."

"So what?" Fukuda asked, honestly curious. "You want to beat the Generation of Miracles your way?"

"I…was thinking that." Tamaki admitted. "But honestly, I don't know. I just know that I can't let them continue making the same mistake they did. I told them before we graduated that I will tear them apart on the court." Her eyes glinted dangerously. "I made them the players they are today. I can turn them into nothing just as easily. They have to learn that basketball is a team sport played by five people, not individuals. And honestly, Kagami-kun can stand to learn that lesson too."

There were snickers from the others.

"Do you think that Seirin…that _we_ can do it?" Furihata asked hesitantly.

Tamaki looked at him. "What do you think?" she asked coolly, and Furihata blinked. "I can form a team like the Teiko you know now in just a year. I can do the same thing with Seirin if they wish it." She looked at the trio. "Just like how I can make you stronger."

The three freshmen blinked. They were fully prepared to sit on the bench for the entire year, cheering for their team, especially seeing how powerful and strong that their seniors and even their fellow freshmen are. And then again, Riko had asked Tamaki to be their training manager alongside her own status as a player. Henceforth, Tamaki also had the responsibility to make the three freshmen in front of her stronger.

"When I was in Teiko, when I was in my second year, I got injured once." Tamaki said suddenly. "It was an injury that had nearly cost me my basketball career and the usage of my dominant hand if it hadn't been for sheer luck. At that time, my coach told me this: 'Fear doesn't shut you down, it wakes you up. That's what makes you dangerous'." She looked at the Seirin freshmen trio. "I can teach you to be stronger. I can help improve your stamina and your speed. I can teach you tactics. That is my job. I help to make you stronger. But none of that matters at all if you don't believe in yourselves."

The three freshmen were quiet. This is quite probably the first time that they have heard Tamaki speak so much.

"Furihata-kun, Fukuda-kun." The two mentioned looked at Tamaki in surprise. There was understanding in her eyes. "Tell me, when you were in middle school, how long were you benchwarmers for?"

"…Three years." Fukuda muttered, embarrassed. "We were never good enough to be nothing more than benchwarmers."

"Do you know what a team means? Do you know the role each person in a team play?" Tamaki asked. She is quite probably the only person of her old team that can understand the feelings of the benchwarmers. Whilst a regular, unlike her teammates, Tamaki was never a starter as she dislikes the attention. She gets enough just by being the vice captain and the strategist of the Teiko team, never mind her rather cheesy nickname. "The regulars represents the hopes and dreams of the players who will never make it to the court. The reserves or the benchwarmers support the regulars. The seniors are strong. Kagami-kun is strong. And I have faith in my own ability. But none of that matters at all if our teammates don't believe in us. We can play the way we did because of the belief they had. _That_ is a team."

"That…is a team…" Fukuda murmured. He had never thought of it that way before, but Tamaki is right. He is as much an essential part of the team, just like any of the seniors.

Basketball is never an individual sport to start with. It is a team sport that is played by five players. While Shisekan is a good team, and Fukuda would never wish that he had joined another middle school, there had never been much emphasis on team play when he was in middle school.

But Seirin is different. They have a warm atmosphere to them. They are a _team._

They are _family._

And for some reason, Fukuda feels as if he could believe Tamaki when she said that she'd bring Seirin to the top.

**XXXXXX**

Kise had his worst fight ever with Aomine two days after Kuroko Tamaki had all but stated that she didn't want to see them again, and didn't even want to talk to them.

And for two days, the vice-captain of the Teiko team had kept her word. Even if she has a relay a message to them, she will send one of the juniors even if they are standing right next to her.

Kise might be lots of things, with air headed and cheerful being one of them, but he is in no way stupid. The tension between Aomine and Tamaki had almost reached breaking point when the Inter High during their third year had ended, and Tamaki had spent more time training Kise than actually training with Aomine—if he even bothers to turn up for practice. Tamaki is probably the only reason why Kise is still playing basketball. Just like nearly the entire team, Kise had never been able to beat Tamaki even once yet, and the blonde could also see that just training Kise and seeing how he adapts and improve actually makes her smile.

And when the Generation of Miracles had a falling out, Akashi, Momoi and the coach are the only ones whom Tamaki speaks to outside of the juniors, and occasionally, Midorima. She refuses to even acknowledge Aomine and Murasakibara's presences, and will walk right past them even in the hallways of the school like they weren't there at all. To that end, Kise actually fares better than them with Tamaki, as Tamaki actually still bother to respond to him, even though she won't even talk to him.

She is still angry with all of them.

She is just not _that_ angry with Kise like she is with Aomine and Murasakibara.

And after nearly two weeks ever since Kise had been in high school, he can honestly say that he misses his mentor and his best friend. She is the only one who is patient enough with him to even put up with his antics. She trained him, turning him into the player that he is today.

Kise misses talking with Tamacchi. He misses the days when he can play with her without a care in the world, when basketball is fun for them.

Henceforth, two weeks after high school had started, Kise found himself making his way towards Seirin High School after managing to wheedle out of Momocchi the school that her best friend attends.

It's not just half the regulars whom Tamaki had been ignoring since that terrible fight that they had. Tamaki had been ignoring her best friend too. And Kise could understand why. The teal haired girl didn't want her best friend to have to pick between herself and Aomine-kun whom had the greatest blame in the entire fiasco, and easily took herself out of the equation.

Even for Momocchi, it hadn't been easy for her to locate Tamaki. The teal haired girl had been the vice-captain of Teiko for a reason after all. She can hide herself quite well if she wants to.

Hence why two weeks after high school had begun, three days after Kise's current coach had informed him of a practice match that Seirin had scheduled with Kaijo, and less than five minutes after he just had an intense one-on-one with that redhead in the Seirin team, Kise is now facing the entirety of the Seirin team, with none of them looking very happy in the least.

Riko looked ready to chuck her clipboard at Kise's head, especially after hearing the blonde trying to poach Tamaki from _her_ team. On the other hand, Tamaki looked as if she is trying to decide between practicing her Ignite Pass on Kise or to just throw her clipboard at Kise's face.

"You aren't even listening when I had that 'conversation' with you lot a few weeks before graduation, did you?" Tamaki spoke through tightly clenched teeth. She could almost hear Shige-kun's broken voice at the end of the Teiko-Meiko game whenever she laid eyes on one of her former teammates. "I told you that I never want to see you again!"

"…_Tamaki… Seijuro… Why?"_

"…_I'm sorry…"_

"_Shige had a message for you. He said not to look for him. And that he's scared of you."_

Kise was bewildered at Tamaki's anger. As far as he knew, she had never gotten _that _angry with them before. "I get that you're angry with Aominecchi, but what did I do?" he asked, honestly clueless.

"I've never seen her so angry before." Kagami remarked. "What happened between them?"

"Let's just say that fame comes at a price." Hyuuga sighed. "This is especially so for the Generation of Miracles."

"You really have no idea, do you?" Tamaki said, and Kise looked confused. She then shook her head. "If you are truly sorry, then you should know what you'd done. Forget it. Basketball is the language that we, the Generation of Miracles truly understand. I'll teach it to you on the court." Her eyes were like cold blue pieces of ice, and Kise resisted the urge to take a step backwards. Now he understands why no one wanted to make Tamaki angry. "And remember what I've said back then? I said that I'd treat you like how _you_ have treated all our past opponents! I'll tear you apart! The Mirage of the Court is no one's fool! And if you think that you can beat Seirin, then by all means, push on ahead. Go on, _I dare you to."_ Tamaki's eyes almost bore into Kise's own almost terrified ones. "And _we will grind you into the dust."_

* * *

_A/N: I know that Tamaki is a little OCC in this story, but please bear in mind that she is __**extremely angry**__ in this story with her teammates, and hence, will do __**anything**__ possible in order to 'destroy them'._

_Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!_

_**Preview of next chapter:**_

"_So this is the power of the Mirage player, Teiko's Number Two. The Ghost of the Court."_

"_This is psychological warfare at its finest."_

"_I won't even let you touch the ball."_

"…_Will you ever forgive them?"_

**Upcoming Stories:**

_Our Basketball_

_The Generation of Miracles never went to Teiko. The famous team of six players all attended different middle schools instead. How much different would their middle school lives be if they were all in separate teams, with Kuroko Tamaki and Akashi Seijuro attending Meiko Middle alongside Ogiwara Shigehiro? Fem!Kuroko_


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